Heat treatment



R. E. TALLEY.

, HEAT TREATMENT.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8, I9I9.

1,362,368. Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WITNESSES INVENTOR Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

R. E. kTALLEY. HEAT TREATMENT.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8, 1919- FIL-1.4.

INVENTOR WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT orales.

RANDAL E. TALLEY, F IRWIN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 THE GEORGE J. HAGAN COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENN SYIIVANIA.`

HEAT TREATMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 14, i920.

Application tiled December 8, 1919. 'Serial No. 343,275.

` To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, RANDAL E. TALLEY, residing atIrwin, in the county ef Westmoreland and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have invented or discovered. certain new and useful Improvements in Heat Treatment, of which mprovements the following is a specification.

It has been attempted to effect the continuous annealing of wire and metal sheets by passing them through tubes formed of fire clay or other refractory material and so arranged in a furnace that the heat and flames could circulate `around them. In order to insure a sufficiently high tempera- 'ture within the tubes, the walls of the latter were necessarily made comparatively thin and in order that the surfaces exposed to the heat, etc. might be large, the supports for tubes were spaced'considerable distances apart. When these conditions conducive to or necessary for operative efliciency were complied with, it wasfound that durability had been sacrificedl and that in use the tubes would crack and the sections become 'disjointed and move out of alinement. l

The invention described herein has for its l object the formation of tunnels or passages In the accompanying drawings forming a.

part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional' elevation of a furnace embodying my improved means for the heat treatment of wire, etc.; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation onl a plane indicated by the line II--IL Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a view partly in perspective and partly in section showmg a modification -in the heating means; Fig. 4 is a sectional view illustrating a further modification; Fig. 5 -is a perspective view partly in section of one of the blocks used in the construction shown in Fig. V4; Fig, 6 is a perspective of a modification of the constructionshown in Figs. 4 and 5, and Fig. 7 isa perspective view of a further modiicationrof the construction .shown in Fig. 5.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a hearth is constructed of refractory material as fire brick soy as to form in the upper -portion of the hearth a plurality of troughs l, the depth and width of which `will be determined by the shape and transverse dimensions of the articles to be treated. As for example, if wire or wire rods are to be heat-treated, the depthand width' of the troughs need not be greatly in excess of the diameter of the article, but if strips or sheets are tol be treated, the dimensions of the tunnel should be adaptedA thereto. These troughs are covered thus completing the tunnels by tiles or slabs of refractory material of suchthickness as to be4 readily perineable by heat applied to the upper surfaces of the covering slabsfor tiles. This cover 2 may be heated in various ways, as for example, electrically lby placing on the cover a layer or bed 3 formed of granulated electric resisting material as carbon, as shown in Figs. land 2. Opposite sides or ends of the bed or lay'are connected to a suitable electric generator in any suitable` manner. In the construction shown the connections to the generators consist o carbon blocks 4 in contact With the granulated beds and connectedto metal conductors 5 leading to the generators.

In lieu of employing electric means lfor heating the tunnels, the hearth vor bed of masonry in which the tunnels 'are formed` may .be constructed in a heating chamber 6 of a furnace employing fuel either solid, liquid or gaseous. preferably constructed with a reverberating roof 7 designed to reflect heat down into the covers of the tunnels.

1n lieu of forming the tunnels by the, arrangement of the bricks composing the hearth or bed, they may be formed by blocks 7 of refractory material and having holes or passages 8 therethrough, said blocks being arranged end to end and solidly embedded in the brickwork of the hearth, as shown in Fig. 4.-. f

This manner of forming the tunnels lends itself to the employment of a pluralityof resistors arranged in passages formed in The heating chamber is the blocks 7 parallel with the tunnel. These resistors may be made of any suitablenaa terial as for. example of granulated carbon as shown at 9 in Figs. i and 5. or of metal strips as 'shown at 92 in Fig. 7. These resistors may be made of any desired crosssectional shape. When errngloying,1 metal strips, 'they may he curved transversely and so arranged as to inclose or surround the tunnel to vany desired extent.

Inlieu of forming the tunnels and the passages for the resistors by the use of perorated blocks, as shown'in Fig. 4C, they may be formed of blocks l0 having tgrooves in opposite sides as shown in Fig. o. ln Such a'construction alternate passages formed in the grooves in adjacent loieclrs would loe used as tunnels through vWhich the article to be treated would he passed, andthe other passages charged with granulated resisting material as carbon.

While the terminals for the resistors may be of any suitable constructions it is preferred to use the tubular construction-sun stantially as shown in Fig. 5. The barrels of these terminals are forced into the ends of the passages and the granulated material forced through such barrels into the passages.

lt. is characteristic of the improvement described and shown herein the tunnels are incorporated in leeds or solid masses of masonry and hence are not liableto in jury and in this respect ddtler radically ineaees from constructions in which the Wires, etc., are passed through tubes formed in sections and supported at intervals.

ln order that the heat mayv penetrate eiiciently into the tunnels, the portions of the Walls along which heat isfapplied are reduced in thickness but on account of the solidity of the structure in which the tunnels are formed, such reduction in thickness of vthe Walls will not render the tunnels liable to injury While in use.

l claim herein as my invention:

l. Means for the continuous heat treatment of Wire? sheets,'etc., having in combination a bed or mass of masonry provided with an opening or tunnel therethrough -tor the passage of the articles tobe treated, a

`portion of the Wall of the tunnel being reduced in thickness and means for applyingheat to the exterior of such reduced portion for heating the tunnel.

l2. Means fork the continuous heat treatnient of Wire, sheetsS etc., consisting of a hed or mass of masonry provided with an vopening or 'tunnel therethrough for the passage of the articles to he treated and with a resistor adapted to he included in a suit able electric circuit, arranged adiacent to lout exterior of said tunnel.

ln testimony whereof, l have hereunto set my hand.-

RANBAL E. TALLER. 

